CORE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

HONORS AMERICAN HISTORY

For each of the sections that follow students may be required to analyze, recall, explain, interpret, apply, or evaluate the particular concepts being taught.

MODERN AMERICA EMERGES – 1890-1920 • Describe the causes and the effects of the Spanish-American War and its impact on U.S. Imperialism • Summarize how in the first tow decades of the 1900’s, Americans embraced the Progressive movement and many of its reforms. • Give examples of progressive reform at the urban, state and federal levels • Describe the long campaign and great effort required to achieve women’s suffrage • Identify World War I as a conflict of global origins and dimensions • Describe President Wilson’s efforts to fashion a lasting peace after World War I

AMERICA IN THE 1920’S • Describe the new prosperity and conveniences produced by American businesses • Examine why Americans lash out at those who are different throughout the decade • Assess the reasons for the clash between rural America and a faster paced urban culture • Describe the influence of mass media on women’s attitudes and roles • Assess the conservative lasses-faire political philosophy that characterized the presidencies of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover

THE GREAT DEPRESSION • Assess the factors that cause an economic collapse in 1929 • Examine why millions of Americans lose their jobs and President Hoover is unable to end the downslide • Summarize President Roosevelt’s New Deal program • Analyze the legacy of the Great Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal

WORLD WAR II AND THE HOME FRONT • Identify the aggressive nations of Europe and Asia and their leaders • Identify Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor as the aggressive action that propelled the U.S. into war • Define the Nazi Holocaust and describe its terrors • Identify the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb • Describe the changes in the American economy as it converted to wartime production • Explain how the U.S. paid for the cost of the war • Explain the mood of the American home front during war • Describe how many Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps during the war

COLD WAR CONFLICTS • Identify the main goals of the superpowers in the postwar period and explain why these goals were in conflict • Describe the goals of the U.S. policy of containment • Explain why the U.S. became involved in the affairs of Korea and Vietnam • Explain Senator Joseph McCarthy’s role in the anti-Communist crusade

THE POSTWAR BOOM • Describe how the nation’s economy grew after WWII • Describe the value assigned to comfort and security by middle-class Americans in the 1950’s • Describe the changes in American society that led African Americans to demand more equality between the races

THE KENNEDY AND JOHNSON YEARS • Identify John F. Kennedy and describe his popular image • Describe Kennedy’s proposed domestic program, including a tax cut, the space program, and direct aid to the poor • Describe the qualities that allowed Lyndon Johnson to move his programs through congress • Explain how Kennedy’s commitment to the Cold War and inexperience in foreign affairs affected his handling of foreign policy

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT • Describe the variety of opinions and goals within the civil rights movement • Identify Martin Luther King Jr., and explain his role in the civil rights movement • Identify the key civil rights accomplishments of Lyndon B. Johnson • Identify the figures who expressed the rage that many African Americans felt during the 1960’s

AN ERA OF SOCIAL CHANGE • Explain how women learned legal and political techniques to fight discrimination from the civil rights movement • Describe how Latino Americans used tactics form the civil rights movement to overcome discrimination • Describe the types of discrimination faced by Asian Americans during WWII and the Cold War • Explain why Native Americans faced unique problems of poverty and discrimination

THE VIETNAM WAR YEARS • Describe how president Kennedy increased American involvement in Vietnam in the early 1960’s • Describe how president Johnson used the gulf of Tonkin incident to intensify the war • Identify the Vietnam War as the focus of the protest movement in the 1960’s • Explain the ways in which may young people in the 1960’s sought to promote freedom and creativity in a counter culture that rejected the conventional life styles of older Americans • Explain how growing opposition to the war persuaded Lyndon Johnson not to run for re-election and helped Richard Nixon become president in 1968 • Explain Nixon’s "vietnamization" of the war and also the initiation of bombing assaults in 1970

FROM NIXON TO CARTER • Explain how Nixon sought to take a more conservative stance with regard to economic policies and crime • Explain Henry Kissinger’s key role in shaping foreign policy in the Nixon administration • Describe how Nixon reversed American policy toward the People’s Republic of China • Describe Nixon’s efforts to cover up his involvement in the Watergate break-in • Describe the economic troubles of the mid-1970’s • Describe Gerald Ford’s term in office • Describe how Carter’s peacemaking efforts brought some stability to the Middle East • Describe the Iran hostage crisis and explain how it damaged the Carter presidency • Summarize how Americans strengthened their efforts to address the nation’s environmental problems

THE CONSERVATIVE TIDE • Describe the roots of the New Conservative Movement • Describe the goals of Reagan’s economic plan • Explain how the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the Cold War • Explain why President Bush organized military action against Iraq in 1991

THE UNITED STATES IN TODAY’S WORLD • Examine Clinton’s election and domestic and foreign policies while in office • Describe the 2000 election and George W. Bush’s presidency • Summarize new challenges workers faced finding economic security in the new US economy • Identify new opportunities and challenges that arise from technological developments in many industries, especially computers and communications • Identify demographic changes in the United States and their implications for American society at the outset of the 21st century

PROJECT(S) ACCEPTABLE FOR GRADUATION PROJECT: • 1960's Social Revolution Project • 1970's Culture Project